Sankey 'happy' with last season, 'confident' this year

With Cobb out half the season and West not yet up to speed, Sankey has prime opportunity in Titans backfield

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Titans running back Bishop Sankey (20) breaks past Vikings outside linebacker Brandon Watts (58) for a first down as the Titans convert a fourth-down play in the first quarter Thursday.(Photo: George Walker IV / The Tennessean)Buy Photo

On his first carry of his first preseason game at Nissan Stadium, last year’s underwhelming rookie season in the rearview mirror, Bishop Sankey stomped the gas pedal.

The Titans running back, the first taken in the 2014 NFL draft, set up far behind quarterback Marcus Mariota, playing under center, took the handoff and burst through the right side of a revamped offensive line.

The crowd noise built to a roar.

Sankey was tripped by lunging Rams middle linebacker James Laurinaitis, but he dove for the first down, lowering his left shoulder to absorb a glancing blow from safety T.J. McDonald, and in true video game fashion spun 180 degrees, placing his left hand on the turf to maintain balance, the ball cradled in his other arm, his right leg parallel to the ground.

Sankey quickly regained his composure and kept churning, running through a tackle by cornerback Lamarcus Joyner, dragging him over the 50, before finally being pulled down 4 yards into Rams territory.

The pickup? Eighteen yards.

It wasn’t long before the NFL began promoting the video on social media.

Sankey added a 19-yard run shortly thereafter, and finished with 45 yards on six carries in just one quarter, an average of 7.5 yards per touch in a 27-14 victory. Tennessee could use some more where that came from.

Last season, Sankey led the Titans with just 569 rushing yards and two touchdowns, managing 3.7 yards per carry, as the team staggered to a 2-14 record and ended on a 10-game losing streak. His longest run was 22 yards. His best game? Only 61 yards.

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Titans running back Bishop Sankey slips away from a Falcons defender during the second quarter.(Photo: George Walker IV / The Tennessean)

But the way his season turned out? That’s all right by him.

“I’m happy with how it went, regardless, in spite of our record and everything,” Sankey said. “This year I feel good, I feel confident and I feel like I’ve grown a lot from my rookie year.”

It wasn’t easy.

“It was kind of a whirlwind at first, just getting adjusted,” Sankey said. “Coming here last year, there were so many new experiences. You’re in a new city, you have a new playbook, a new team. It’s definitely an adjustment, but it was a growing process for me as a person and as a player.”

And just like last season, when it comes to the running game, Titans coach Ken Whisenhunt doesn’t seem to want to rely exclusively on last year’s second-round pick.

Tennessee selected David Cobb in the fifth round of this year’s draft. When he suffered a calf injury that will sideline him for at least half the season, the Titans traded a conditional seventh-round pick for Browns running back Terrance West.

West, a third-round pick in 2014, led the Browns with 673 rushing yards as a rookie — more than 100 yards better than Sankey. But he was benched twice for poor practice habits and may have been released in final roster cuts as a result of his inconsistency and reported immaturity.

Whisenhunt said West’s acquisition isn’t an indictment of Sankey or anyone else in the backfield, which also includes Dexter McCluster and Antonio Andrews.

“You’re trying to make your team better and you feel like that guy can make a contribution,” Whisenhunt said. “So I don’t think there’s any team that’s going to not bring a player in because they’re worried about how the other guys feel about it. In fact, I would argue that’s against it. Even if you feel great about your guys, what’s wrong with bringing in another guy to help you get better?”

West may command significant touches as the season progresses, but Whisenhunt has said it’ll take time for the newcomer to become accustomed with the Titans offense.

In the meantime, Sankey has a prime opportunity to lay claim to the backfield and establish himself as a true lead option.

He’ll need to reprise his role against the Rams on a weekly basis, a feat that’s so far proven elusive. In the final two preseason games, Sankey managed just 34 yards on 12 carries.

Of course, those stats, like the bruising run a couple of weeks ago, don’t count.

Not like Sunday’s regular season opener at Tampa Bay.

“I feel really good. I’m just excited to get the season going, going into my second year,” Sankey said. “I definitely want to do well this year and I know the rest of the guys do, too. We feel like we’re a better team than what we showed last year, and we just want to prove that to the fans and everything this year, and to ourselves, too.”

He’ll get his chance.

Reach Jason Wolf at jwolf@tennessean.com and follow him on Twitter at @JasonWolf and on Instagram at TitansBeat.